


A Fool's Errand

by VeganChocolateSyrup11



Category: Vampire Chronicles - All Media Types, Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Canon Rewrite, Communication, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Angst, M/M, POV Third Person, but also miscommunication, crybaby Lestat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25982377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeganChocolateSyrup11/pseuds/VeganChocolateSyrup11
Summary: Lestat is desperate for Louis’ help. He had ignored everyone’s warnings against the body switch and now Raglan James is in full possession of his preternatural powers with no intentions of giving them back. He’s banking his luck on becoming immortal again and taking back his old body, but things aren’t going to be that simple. They never are for him, are they? But the question remains, will Louis help his maker or cast him out completely?
Relationships: Lestat de Lioncourt/Louis de Pointe du Lac
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	A Fool's Errand

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this sort of as a “fix-it” to cope with my discontent for the scene where Lestat seeks Louis out in Body Thief. Louis is my fav so it left a bad taste in my mouth when I read him as strikingly ooc. Understandable since the rest of the books read differently from here on out. So I had to go in and write a bit of cheesy fluff towards the end since you-know-who failed to give us any respite :/. Also I just love making Lestat cry.  
> Spoiler alert, this scene is directly taken from TotBT. Hopefully you’ve done your homework. Please be kind, this is my first serious non-co written fic.

Lestat made it to his knees before quickly bending over and heaving onto the ground in front of him. Louis could do nothing but stare in shock, his face bereft of any emotion.

The sounds of his retching ceased, replaced by labored breathing. The dimly lit room stank of mold and damp parchment, lending no comfort to the atmosphere. Immediate panic roused Lestat over to Mojo’s limp form, crying out his distress for the dog. 

Louis couldn’t shake his shock as he remained staring down at the two intruders. He didn’t even register the words pouring from the mouth of this strange and unrecognizable mortal. A mortal who claimed to be his maker just moments before his sickness. Despite his obvious advantage over this weak creature, his hands started to clam up with the blood sweat.

Lestat had broken into a long-winded telling of the events leading up to his demise, as well as what followed. All the while Louis did his best to listen, slowly picking up on undeniable evidence affirming Lestat’s identity. It was the strangest thing really. In a matter of seconds he could recognize with utmost certainty that it was Lestat’s soul in that body. He was hunched over the animal right before his very eyes! 

As Louis observed this spectacle, he found Lestat’s common patterns in speech and mannerisms to be uncanny in likeness. Yes, it was him, he was sure of it. Nobody but Louis had known this man as intimately as he. Any suspicions he may have had of an imposter attempting imitation were fleeting. Even the hard lines near the mouth--a charming result of Lestat’s familiar roguish expressions--had sparked pure recognition. Louis backed up against the desk in his distress.

“Good God, what have you done now!” Louis exclaimed, dark green eyes widening.

Lestat sat slumped in a red velvet chair he had bought for himself months ago, one that looked so out of place in Louis’ bleak dwelling. 

He desperately complained to Louis about the limitations of his current body, words interrupted by the occasional cough. Perhaps a few minor details were left out amidst his fervent justification. The point being, he was determined to obtain the Dark Gift again in the name of vengeance. The necessary action to perform this transformation was to be expected of Louis, of course. He made no indication of knowing any doubt that Louis would do it.

After his breathy rant came to finish, he sat anxiously waiting for Louis’ agreement to his plan. Louis slowly roused himself from his state of awe.

“I.. cannot do it, Lestat,” he hesitated.

Lestat’s heart dropped into his stomach. “But what are you saying to me? Louis, I made you! Surely you can make the change happen with this body.”

Louis cautiously looked him up and down, trying to formulate his response. “No. Don’t you see that you’ve done it? You have been reborn mortal. You were right all along,” Louis rebutted. He was showing more concern for the situation at hand than Lestat’s own well-being. Lestat spluttered at this. 

“The only thing I see is that conniving oaf, making off with MY powers to do god knows what petty crimes.”

“The others must have dealt with him at this point. It could very well be that your body was destroyed already,” Louis frowned.

“No way, they wouldn’t have. My old body is too strong. Look, I- I’ve made a colossal blunder, okay?” Lestat whined in capitulation. “I was dim-witted again and he outsmarted me. Happy? Now make haste! My death will take precious time.”

Louis’ face remained unreadable.

“I cannot. Or rather, l will not. No matter what calamities that have befallen you in your experience with this body. I’ll never affect the change for any reason again under God.”

“No, you aren’t understanding me! I am miserable, Louis, absolutely miserable!” Lestat cried out, on the verge of tears. He was completely aghast at the sound of Louis’ perfidious words. So this was it. His own fledgling is turning his back on him in the moment he needed him most. His beloved Louis has sentenced him to a hell in which he belonged: his own mortality. Lestat’s face grew hot and he became aware of his own bodily odours, a very human physiological reaction he hadn’t experienced for centuries. His emotions boiled over until nothing but anger was left. 

“Can’t you see this is a sign? You have won your chance at repentance,” Louis reasoned.

“How dare you make this choice for me. You have no right to pass judgment. I can’t bear this!” Lestat raged as he rushed Louis, hands grabbing for the dusty cloth material of his sweater. Louis was too quick, however, and easily tossed him back to the chair.

Lestat grunted against the cushions and struggled to stand again with his awkwardly long legs. Their eyes met and this time Lestat’s anger was replaced with humiliation. “Please Louis, I don’t know how to live this way. In all of my disillusion, I took for granted the gifts of the dark power. I have a conjecture, you see,” Lestat beseechingly goes on without catching his breath. “That I have tasted from the fountain of youth and to go back would be agony. Please try to understand me.”

Louis was all too familiar with the patterns of Lestat’s breakdowns. They’ve reached a phase of ultimatum. Lestat’s eyes reflected a hopeless and dejected sadness that Louis had learnt to be wary of. Louis processed his words, face softening despite himself.

“You should be grateful. This is the most merciful punishment to atone for the centuries of suffering you’ve caused. It only proves everything really does come full circle,” Louis said in a low tone. “This woman you love. You should go to her. She can guide you in your retribution. To save the lives you have taken from so many.” His eyes betrayed his words, appearing almost regretful.

“Ah, but there you go again, believing our kind can be saved. You said it yourself, did you not? I will never really be mortal. Even in this body.”

Louis’ head drooped down ever so slightly. Silence fell between the two. Lestat stepped forward, more calmly this time.

“And you know that your way of thinking is flawed, truly. One cannot measure value in human life spent by pure statistical numbers. What would such atonement mean in the grand scheme of it all? Do you think God watches us?”

This peaked Louis’ consideration. Lestat knew that after all these years, Louis didn’t truly believe anymore. His faith had been lost the moment he turned his back on those days in Rue Royale and grew to accept his immortal fate. Gradually his reckless and bitter resentment towards the very existence of their kind could not be rationalized to him by any religious explanation. If any of these thoughts crossed his mind, though, Louis did not make it known. His expression remained carefully guarded as he leaned his arm against the small wooden desk.

“You can’t deny me here Louis, I need your help,” Lestat pleaded softly. He stepped close again and touched Louis’ broad shoulders. His right hand brushed over his neck before finally resting on his stone-cold cheek. How does anyone believe this face is mortal? Such beautiful deep set eyes that expressed centuries of melancholy. Louis may be less powerful than most of their kind, but his outward appearance is quite deceiving to even a vampire. He was just as tall as Lestat’s original body, but more solidly built than many men of his time. It played to his advantage back when he would pick fights in taverns, searching for release from his suffering.

Tears were spilling from Lestat’s brown eyes.  
“I don’t know any other way. I want things to return back to the way they were before. I never should have made the switch. I had believed you would always be there with me after the concert. After A-” Lestat choked “Akasha... Don’t abandon me.” 

He gently caressed Louis’ cheek, leaning in to kiss Louis’ mouth. It was light, but not without deep affection. When they came away, their foreheads touched.

“I know you have the strength for it,” Lestat whispered.

Irritation sparked in Louis. He battled with his internal thoughts over how to respond without adding fuel to fire. For all the times Lestat accused him of his stubbornness, it was in this regard they were more alike than previously thought. There was nothing Louis could say to appease Lestat and he knew it.

“Please don’t make me do it,” was all he could muster.

Lestat screwed his face in annoyance while stepping back.

“Lestat, go. I know you love her.”

The hell? Lestat wasn’t even thinking of Gretchen now. Could he really be this self-depreciative? This ignorant as to not understand Lestat’s presence in that very moment? He absolutely hated Louis using his mention of Gretchen to try and send him away. He clenched his hands into fists and fired back with all his frustration.

“No! Don’t you see you idiot, I am here because I love YOU!”

Louis stood frozen. Maybe he short-circuited? Oh god, he felt like crying again. Why does he cry so much? All these thoughts raced on through Lestat’s mortal head surprisingly fast. 

“I trust in only you to help me here,” Lestat’s lower lip wobbled as he held back his sobs. Still no response from Louis. The silence was absolutely deafening. A car passed by in the streets outside, splashing on the rain-soaked pavement. Minutes felt like hours in his current state and Lestat was never a patient creature. He felt like retching again.

“Okay. I believe you. I love you,” Louis consoled as he reached out to touch his arm. The mask had fallen to reveal the fondness underneath. Lestat instantly relaxed under his touch. “But then how must we proceed? I will not do this thing you ask of me. The working of the dark trick is something I have personally forsworn never to commit again. I have never thought of doing it since the Théâtre des Vampires all those years ago.”

Lestat was about to argue this, but was stopped by Louis’ raised hand.  
“And to force me so selfishly is a breach on my own free will. You’d be a hypocrite. Might we come to a compromise? What of your friend David? Can he help?”

Lestat was surprised by this response. It wasn’t what he wanted, but this body exhausted easily and so he had to settle for what was being negotiated. Louis was willing to help in any other way possible. A feeling of relief washed over his body, as well as great tenderness.

“He probably has been trying to reach me for days. I was too ashamed to reveal myself to him,” Lestat sniffed.

Louis smiled. “Well perhaps we should try to reach him together?” he politely offered his hand. Lestat made a shaky smile and took it. “Oh, and please wipe your nose.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for such an abrupt ending! I wanted this to be shorter originally but got carried away. If you didn’t think it was dreadful, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for reading!  
> -Luc


End file.
